It is difficult not to be fascinated by sci-fi films about faraway worlds, trips to the moon or to mysterious planets and adventures that may provide us with a glimpse of things to come. The way people may live, move or even dress in a few decades' time is obviously an intriguing topic.
Yet what we often don't realise is that the fictional future we are presented with, usually derives from the past, especially for what regards the costumes we see on the screen.
Princess Leia's iconic minimalist white robe in Star Wars (1977) finds for example a precedent in Friede's look in Frau in Mond (Woman in the Moon, 1929) by Fritz Lang.
In the same way, the more you look at Daisy Ridley as Rey in the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the more your mind finds connections between her costume and Haute Couture designs from the past.
Rey's minimalist yet striking attire consists in a pair of white trousers matched with a finely draped white top reminiscent of Madame Grès' draped designs, like her 1945 silk jersey pleated gown currently on display at the Museum at FIT's exhibition "Paris Capital of Fashion" (on loan from Hamish Bowles' private collection).
Costume designer Michael Kaplan actually claimed in interviews about this film that, for what regarded the costumes, while Alexander McQueen remained an influence, he had more of an affinity with his friend Rick Owens.
Yet Madame Grès must have also been a reference as in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Kaplan moved from Grès for Laura Dern’s Admiral Amilyn Holdo monochromatic lavender gown. In that case the admiral looked elegant and feminine, but also statuesque like a Greek goddess, representing a character that demanded respect.
Costume designers working on mythical, legendary or fantasy stories that don't have any connections with specific historical times, often create their own mix of inspirations, borrowing several ideas from fashion, traditional costumes and history and combine them together to produce something new. This happened for example in Pier Paolo Pasolini's film Medea (1969) and in Madame Grès' costumes for Ulysses (1954) by Mario Camerini.
Kaplan's combination of modern and contemporary designs with a Madame Grès' twist in both films proved a winning formula, especially because, while Grès created gowns that looked sculpted on the body, the soft fabric and the pleated and draped style, allowed her to come up with form-fitting, feminine and fluid silhouettes that in Rey's case guarantee the character to perform dynamic action scenes without restricting her movements, while retaining an elegant touch (besides, the white shade of the costume links it with Princess Leia's and Luke's costumes in the 1977 film).
Who knows, maybe this will be the successful fashion formula in times to come - garments made not just with rigid, synthetic and plastic-based materials, but incorporating some details and elements from the past rebuilt into an organic future.
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